The Future of Consumerist

Over the last twelve years, Consumerist has been a steadfast proponent and voice on behalf of consumers, from exposing shady practices by secretive cable companies to pushing for action against dodgy payday lenders. Now, we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports, our parent organization, to cultivate the next generation of consumer advocacy.

Stay tuned as Consumerist’s current and future content finds its home as a part of the Consumer Reports brand. In the meantime, you can access existing Consumerist content below, and we encourage you to visit Consumer Reports to read the latest consumer news.

Perhaps realizing that disc-based media will soon go the way of VHS, the folks at Redbox have dipped a toe into the shark-infested water of selling event tickets. Keeping with the company’s $1 theme, Redbox is only charging a $1 fee for each ticket, compared to the complicated, expensive fees tacked on by industry leader Ticketmaster.

The initial test for Redbox is actually occurring here in Philadelphia, where the company’s kiosks and website are selling tickets to see Carrie Underwood at the Wells Fargo Center.

According to the Redbox site, customers only pay the face value of the ticket price, taxes, and the $1 fee.

While Ticketmaster is not selling tickets for this particular event, a comparison of fees for available Carrie Underwood tickets at other venues in the area will run a customer at least $10 per ticket.

Ticketmaster fees are 10x higher than Redbox

Unfortunately, the biggest hurdle to the success of any competitor to Ticketmaster is that its parent company, Live Nation, owns or manages many of the most popular concert venues in the country. Live Nation also promotes and operates many of the larger concert tours, along with managing some of the artists.

But the Wall Street Journal reports that Redbox may be avoiding a head-to-head battle with Ticketmaster by getting into the remnant ticket business, where it would sell off discounted, last-minute tickets to events that haven’t sold out.

“We can help move inventory,” a Redbox exec explains. “We can be incremental without being cannibalistic.”

As for how Redbox can survive without charging the ridiculously high fees charged by perennial Worst Company In America contender Ticketmaster, the company’s president says tickets will support the DVD rentals and vice versa. “Tt will help drive our core business,” she explains.